Research Interests or Specialties
Language endangerment:
- Kugu Nganhcara at Aurukun ( Cape York Peninsula, Australia )
Linguistic variation and change in contact languages:
- Sourashtra (Tamil Nadu Gujarati) in south India
- Kugu Muminh at Aurukun (Cape York Peninsula, Australia)
Linguistic description of pidgins and creoles:
- Sri Lanka Portuguese
- Sri Lanka Malay
Research Projects
Les missionnaires wesleyens et la conversion du créole portugais de Sri Lanka
On the provenance and timing of substrate influence in Sri Lanka Malay
Abduction, mapping and calquing as models of lexifier and subsratum input in creoles
Principal Investigator: Ian Smith, DLLL, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professionnal Studies
Funding Agency: non applicable
Duration of project: ongoing
Description:
This is a monograph on Sri Lanka Portuguese covering such issues as the social and linguistic processes involved in its development, the origin of nineteenth century textual language and its diglossic relationship to the colloquial. The work will include a grammatical sketch, focussing particularly on the colloquial language of Batticaloa, and one or more annotated texts..
LES MISSIONNAIRES WESLEYENS ET LA CONVERSION DU CRÉOLE PORTUGAIS DE SRI LANKA
Principal Investigator: Ian Smith, DLLL, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professionnal Studies
Funding Agency: non applicable
Duration of project: ongoing
Description:
This is a study of the role of 19th C. Anglophone missionaries in the creation of literary Sri Lanka Portuguese and of the indigenous response to this artificial language in the cultural context of South Asian diglossia. The study will provide evidence against the recent claim by Bakker that Sri Lanka Portuguese has undergone substantial Tamil influence since 1900.
ON THE PROVENANCE AND TIMING OF SUBSTRATE INFLUENCE IN SRI LANKA MALAY
Principal Investigator: Ian Smith, DLLL, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professionnal Studies
Funding Agency: non applicable
Duration of project: ongoing
Description:
This is a study of plural marking and definite accusative marking in Sri Lanka Malay and its correlates in Tamil and Sinhala. Sri Lanka Malay is found to be more like Tamil than Sinhala in several respects. The fact that this marking is found in disparate communities of Sri Lanka Malay speakers argues for the early influence of Tamil here rather than the comparatively recent influence as Bakker has claimed.
ABDUCTION, MAPPING AND CALQUING AS MODELS OF LEXIFIER AND SUBSTRATUM INPUT IN CREOLES
Principal Investigator: Ian Smith, DLLL, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professionnal Studies
Funding Agency: non applicable
Duration of project: ongoing
Description:
This is a study relating the form and function of grammatical morphemes and structure in creoles to processes of second language acquisition, with particular reference to the formation of Sri Lanka Malay.
Publications:
